1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rack for holding baby bottles nipples when they are being washed in a dishwasher.
2. The Prior Art
Nipples for baby bottles must be thoroughly washed after use. They may be boiled to sterilize them. An automatic dishwasher uses much higher temperature water then one could use hand washing the nipples, and the higher temperature of a dishwasher is thought to provide sufficient sterilization of the nipples. Nipples washed in a dishwasher do not have to be boiled separately. Before dishwashers were used, glass baby bottles themselves were usually boiled after hand washing, and the nipples were boiled with the bottles. Glass and more permanent plastic baby bottles are washed in dishwashers today. Many baby bottles use disposable inserts for holding the formula so that the bottle itself does not have to be washed. Washing the nipples separately and then boiling them is inconvenient.
Washing nipples in a dishwasher has been a problem. They are extremely light, and the force of water from the dishwasher jets moves the nipples within the conventional dishwasher rack and turns them over where they fill with water. Effective cleaning stops when the nipple is full of water. Water does not drain so the nipple retains a detergent residue, which is unhealthy for an infant. A nipple may also drop from the rack near the heating element of the dishwasher which could cause it to be damaged.
As a result, nipples are usually not washed in a dishwasher. A nipple bag has been marketed. It is formed of mesh, and nipples are placed in it. The bag does not keep the nipples upright. There have been attempts to make nipple holders for dishwashers. A prior art one has a base with a bottom opening. Two inverted L-shaped brackets extend upward from the base adjacent the opening. The base of the nipple is placed on the base of the rack, and the flange of the nipple is inserted under the L-shaped bracket. The major drawback of this system is that it works with only one size nipple, but there are many different sizes in use today. Nipples range in size from those in which a flange of the nipple is held by a threaded ring over the narrowed top of the bottle. The widest nipples are typically used with disposable bottles. Most have a bottom flange, but some older ones have no flange. The various sizes and shapes makes it extremely difficult to provide a base with openings to accommodate the different size nipples.
Some dishwashers also have small, covered racks for holding small items that do not fit on the shelves or in the silverware tray of a dishwasher or which might move under the force of the spray. Most could not hold the nipple upright even though they are acceptable for holding items in which it is not necessary that they be maintained vertically.